A method was developed for the biological monitoring of the fungicide epoxiconazol (Opus ; BASF).

Comparison of the urine levels of a hydroxylated metabolite after dermal application to the levels after oral intake revealed a dermal absorption of 1-2.5% of the dose.

In a field study with 10 applicators a dermal exposure ranging between 60 and 10,000 mug/person/day was determined from the urine levels of a hydroxylated metabolite ; the contribution of the inhalation exposure was found to be negligible.

From these data an incorporation of 1 to 100 mug epoxiconazol/person/day could be derived.

The measured exposure was compared to two commonly used exposure models.

The model calculation resulted in a dermal exposure of 555 mug/person/day (German BBA model) and 2115 mug/person/day (British POEM), respectively, which is in accordance with the actually measured exposure.